On November 12 and 13, 1833, a spectacular showing of the Leonid meteor shower took America by storm.   Supposedly, it was the first recorded meteor shower in modern times (highly debatable).  We know that Thomas Jefferson was interested in meteors and Native American rock art depict both supernova and meteor showers. 

The Richmond (VA) Enquirer on November 15, 1833, reported on the shooting stars. (Brilliant Phenomenon, center page)

Several days later, the Enquirer carried dispatches from across the eastern US on the Phenomenon. 

The Vermont Telegraph and other papers carried reports of the meteors. 

Artist Adolf Vollmy produced an engraving of the shower based upon a first hand account from a minister who was traveling between New Orleans and Florida when the meteor shower occurred.  It was published in the 1888 volume Bible Readings for the Home Circle.  (image 80) 

An 1881 engraving captures "The November Meteors" 

The 1883 booklet Meteors attempts to explain the difference between meteors and meteorites (one flies below the clouds and one doesn't) among other things. 

This Library blog from 2020 outlines how newspapers helped to crowdsource a scientific discovery. 

How to use these sources? 

Have your students compare media coverage then and now of the Leonids and other meteor showers such as the Geminids. 

Examine the booklet Meteors and research recent scientific advancements in meteor research as compared to what was known in 1883, including the recent NASA success of a probe bringing back a sample of an asteroid. 

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